


Save Them

by Es_Aitch



Category: Doctor Who (2005), Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-05
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:07:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29857146
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Es_Aitch/pseuds/Es_Aitch
Summary: The seriesThe Mandalorianmakes it clear that some of the Younglings might have survived Order 66.  But given Grogu’s memory going dark, it is unclear how that might have happened.  And with what we see inStar Wars Episode 3 Revenge of the Sith, it’s even more questionable.  There is a massive time skip at the end of the Doctor Who episode “Death in Heaven” – two weeks for Clara and undetermined for Twelve (though his hair is shorter in those last scenes.).  So, what was the Doctor doing during that time?This takes place at the end of "Death in Heaven" for the Doctor and mid-"Revenge of the Sith" for Grogu.Yes, this is a cross-over and I don’t think I’ve ever actually written one – let alone posted it, but TARDIS means “What the hell”.
Kudos: 7





	1. Chapter 1

Clara Oswald and the Twelfth Doctor moved Kate Stewart from the graveyard into the TARDIS and the Doctor set the coordinates for a UNIT safe house. Once Kate was awake enough, he helped her to walk inside the building to ensure she received proper care. He remained with her until she was settled. When he turned to leave, she spoke. “Doctor? I dreamt…. I mean, I thought it was dad who saved me. But that couldn’t be possible, could it?”

The Doctor was glad Kate couldn’t remember her father as a Cyberman and he wasn’t about to shatter that illusion. If others wanted to, they could be responsible for picking up those emotional pieces. It wasn’t going to be him. He turned and offered her a small smile. “Well, time travel is always possible in dreams. And some dreams even try to save us.”

Kate wore a confused expression, but nodded her head as if she understood. The Doctor nodded his goodbye and returned to the TARDIS.

Clara was waiting for him. Leaving her was going to be more challenging, but he needed to check the coordinates Missy had given him, and if Gallifrey really had returned, he didn’t want Clara anywhere near it.

He entered the TARDIS. Clara was sat on one of the chairs that surrounded the console. She looked up at him. “Is Kate going to be okay?”

The Doctor nodded. “Fine. She was more awake when I left her. She had even started to remember some things.”

Clara pursed her lips and nodded. She wanted to run. She wanted to stay. She wanted to feel something. She wanted to avoid all feelings. She had lost Danny Pink twice within just a few days. Danny had chosen how he wanted to die the second time. That should make the pain less. It didn’t.

When Clara didn’t say more, the Doctor approached the console and set the coordinates. When they materialised, Clara looked up at him. “Where are we?”  
“Your flat.”  
“Oh.”

The Doctor could hear that her tone was emotionless. He didn’t like hearing it from her, but he knew it well. Too well. Every war he ever fought, every battle, always ended the same: some people died. The fact that these Cybermen were already dead didn’t matter. He was sick of losing people and losing Brigadier Lethbridge-Stewart twice made him realise what Clara must be feeling. At least this time, he was there and was able to give a good-bye of sorts. But there would be no reason to visit the graves, no bodies were there. He cleared his throat. “Clara…”

He broke off, he had no idea what to say to her. “It wasn’t your fault. Neither time. The first time, Danny died as a man. The second he died as a soldier. But the second time, you were with him.”

She nodded. “I know.”

“Grief is a funny thing. Experiencing one loss can bring back the memories of other losses.” He was referring to the death of her mother, but he wasn’t about to say that out loud. “You need time.”

She offered a half-shrug. “What about you?”  
“Me? I’ll be fine. This is,” he sighed, “far more common for me than I care to admit.”  
“Is this what it was like when…”  
“When I lost Gallifrey?” He shook his head. “No. This… would’ve been considered an ‘uprising’ nothing more.” It wasn’t in his nature to sugar-coat things. “Besides, all those people were already dead. Their loss already experienced. To my knowledge, besides Dr Chang, only the people on the plane died.”

Clara nodded, but looked displeased.

The Doctor sighed again. “Sorry. I’m… not good at this.”

Clara nodded again. “Yeah. Noticed. So, you want to be alone.”  
“I’m not good for you right now.” He didn’t add that she wasn’t good for him either. “Give yourself some time. And when you’re ready, let me know.”  
“How will I know when that is?”

He offered a faint smile. “You’ll know, trust me. You’ll know.”

She still frowned and he couldn’t stand it when her eyes started to inflate. He sighed and then spoke again. “Clara, the bracelet… I got a chance to look at it before I tossed it to Danny. It let Missy travel from one world to another. It’s how she was able to…”

He broke off and swallowed hard. It wasn’t hard to figure it out, so Clara continued. “How she was able to collect all those minds. Why are you telling me this?”  
“I told you, if there was any way to bring Danny home, I would.” He shrugged. “It’s the best I can offer. But I didn’t have time to tell him, he’ll have to figure it out on his own.”

He didn’t want to give her false hope, didn’t want to mislead her. But if he was going to leave her, well, best to leave her with something.

She nodded. “Well, if anyone can figure it out, I’m sure he can.”

She paused as if she was going to say something else. Instead, she exited the TARDIS without another word.

The Doctor hoped he would see her again. But if Missy had taught him anything in their brief encounter, it was that he and Clara were not good for each other right now.

That’s what he kept telling himself. He sighed heavily and ran his hand through his short grey hair. He had more pressing business to attend. It was time to see if Gallifrey had returned as Missy had stated. He approached the console and input the coordinates: 10 – 0 – 11 – 00 : 02.

When he saw the empty space, he didn’t know what to do with his anger and frustration. He took it out on the console – much to the displeasure of the TARDIS. He would make it up to her. Right now, he was too focused on the fact that Missy had lied. Of course, she had. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up.

The Doctor needed a distraction and to stay away from Earth for a good long while. After his adventure on the Orient Express in space, Perkins had told him he needed to replace a couple of the Drive Stacks. It was a long job, but he should probably do it. In fact, he should probably do a complete overhaul of TARDIS maintenance. He always put it off as long as he could. But with all that had happened when the Boneless attacked her, taking the time to do this might be best. Maybe she would treat him better if he took better care of her. Perkins had said such jobs could take ‘forever’, but the Doctor knew that between himself and some droids, he could probably have everything necessary completed within a month.

He sighed heavily and pulled up the maps. He needed to find a planet with advanced enough technology, but one he could hide on easily. He smiled as he found the right place. It was an out of the way planet. More of an enormous repair shop than a planet. He should be able to find everything he needed here. It’s not like TARDIS parts were just lying around wherever anyone could pick them up.

He scanned the planet for the parts he would need. The TARDIS flashed the location and he threw the lever to start the materialisation process. He looked up at the Time Rotor as he spoke. “Just you and I for a bit. That’s okay, right? We could probably both use the time.”

He exited the TARDIS and met one of the droids. He explained what he needed, paid the fees, and followed the droid to the area that contained the parts. He grinned when he saw the condition of the items. They were rebuilt, but looked immaculate to his eyes. He would still have the TARDIS scan them before installing anything, just in case. These places weren’t out to make money. Their reputation usually brought them all the business they needed. But that didn’t mean a bad part or two didn’t make its way into the region.

After the first week, the Doctor paid an additional fee to have more droids help with the repairs. It would probably knock a week off his estimated time and it allowed him time to do the kinds of improvements he wanted to do. He still thought there should be more round things on the walls and he wanted to find them. So, he would leave the actual maintenance to the droids and he would take care of some redecorating.

Two weeks later, the repairs were complete and the Doctor had installed the round things that had been missing. He still felt they needed something more. Maybe lighting… But there would be time enough for that later. He had been here three weeks and was starting to get cabin fever. He needed to get out. There had been no word from Clara, but then three weeks for him might have only been a few days for her.

He paid the final settlement on his account and sent the TARDIS into the Time Vortex. He wasn’t quite ready for an adventure, but he did need to test the repairs, ensuring the TARDIS still performed to his satisfaction. He found a little part of the universe that was remote enough that no one would notice him. He tested as much as he could.

He was satisfied. The TARDIS seemed to perform better than he expected. It was a nice change. He would have to remember that place and hopefully those droids would be around for a long time. They performed well. His specialised programming still worked as well. He was glad. He didn’t want to have to go through all the effort of redoing them.

“One last test.” 

Just then the entire TARDIS shook and all the warning lights came on. The Cloister Bell didn’t ring, so the Doctor pulled a monitor towards him. A message was flashing on the screen, but it was disjointed and was more static than anything. He could only catch snatches of the message. “ _Jedi Order… Republic… fallen. Empire… take place. Reminder… surviving Jedi. …Force. Do not return… temple. …Time has passed. …Future is uncertain…. Force be with you…_ ”


	2. Chapter 2

The Doctor frowned as he listened to the message several more times. It was no clearer than before, but he was able to get more of the information. It was coming from someone called ‘Obi Wan Kenobi’. He looked up at the Time Rotor. “Can you clean it up at all? Get more information?”

The TARDIS groaned. He pursed his lips at her reply. Less than encouraging. He would have to try another way. “Can you trace it? Can we go to this Temple?”

He engaged the lever and after a moment, the Time Rotor started up. He grinned. It was rather a bumpy ride. And even with all the repairs he had made, bits of the TARDIS sparked and flamed in response. It felt like….

He didn’t want to think about it; not yet. The TARDIS materialised and everything went quiet. Not silent. The TARDIS was sentient and there was always some sense of life within her. But the sparks and rattling stopped. He didn’t have weapons, didn’t need them, but he made sure his sonic was in his pocket before he exited.

He stepped out into what appeared to be a place that held computer servers. He approached them. “Fairly advanced.”

He scanned the area with his sonic, it’s hum a comforting familiarity in this strange place. He looked at the readouts. “Oh, I’m a long way from home.”

Still, the message sounded like a distress call and he was here to help. He approached one of the consoles. He frowned when the TARDIS didn’t translate the information. She had translated the emergency message, why not this? He thought about it for a long time. One of the reasons why he knew so many languages was because there were things they had in common. If he could put that to use here, he might be able to translate it himself. “Of course, computers could be set for any language, all I have to do is find the key to set it to whatever counts as ‘Basic’ in this universe.”

It took him a couple of minutes, but soon he could read some of the screen. “Not much, but maybe I can pull up a map.”

It was enough to get a map of the Temple he was in. It was a large place with education wings, housing, meeting rooms – it was like a miniature city. “Still, for as large as it is, there are vast open hallways.”

He listened carefully and didn’t hear anything was moving about. He decided to exit the room and explore.

No matter how many horrors he had seen during the Time War, he was never really prepared for death and destruction when he found it. As he walked down the halls, he could tell that those in armour were the ones attacking the others. “I hate soldiers. They have all the guns. Too much power.”

He bent down to look more closely at the bodies. “The others fought back, though. Did they have guns of their own, or did they use something to deflect the blasts?”

He could tell there were laser blasts that killed many of the people he found. But there was something else, some of the markings were like those you would find in a sword fight. But they were burnt into the flesh. “Laser swords? How would that work? It would destroy everything! How would you stop the light from going on forever?”

Just then, he heard a noise. He took out his sonic and scanned the area for life signs. He didn’t receive any. “Could be the sonic isn’t calibrated for these creatures. I seem to be in a different universe.”

It wasn’t like when he had been to E-Space, or even the parallel world with the Zeppelins. He had never heard of Jedi and with a warning like that, they were pervasive in this universe. So not N-Space then. Still there were commonalities across all universes. And this was a war like any other. “But the beginning, the middle, or the end?”

He heard a noise again. He hoped his sonic would work here. The only other defence he had was talking.

One of the soldiers in the strange armour approached him. He was moving slowly; he had clearly been injured and he spoke slowly. “You’re not Jedi.”

Whatever language this was, the Doctor could understand it. Strange that he couldn’t read the language, only understand what was spoken. The soldier was waiting for an answer, so he shook his head. “No.”  
“How did you get here?”  
“I don’t even know where I am.”  
“This is the Jedi Temple. They betrayed the Empire; they need to be destroyed. Are you here to help?”  
“Helping is what I do best.”  
“Good. I believe there are still Younglings around. They need to be found and destroyed.”  
“Ah. Found. Yes. Then I’ll take care of them.”  
“Good.”

At that, the soldier collapsed to the ground and died. The Doctor approached him. There weren’t any blasts to his front, so he turned him over. “Laser swords again. But smaller or weaker. Drastic height difference. A Youngling?”

The Doctor looked around and didn’t see anything else. He listened carefully and didn’t hear any movement either. He didn’t like the implications. The soldier hadn’t said much, but between the distress message and what he just learnt… He shook his head. It really didn’t matter to him which side the children were on, he would save them if he could.

He aimed the sonic at another terminal. Maybe the sonic could use the information and do an upgrade. It would take time. Time, he didn’t have. He continued down the corridor. About halfway to a junction, he found a small body. A child. A Youngling. Near the body was a strange object. The Doctor picked it up and examined it. In some ways, it looked like his sonic. He scanned it with the sonic and it revealed that though there were mechanical parts, there were crystals as well. “Laser, as I thought. The mechanical parts aim light through the crystals and they focus it to make it more powerful. Genius.”

He found a switch and turned it on. He was intrigued by the light and the soft hum it made. “Well, no, the light doesn’t make the hum. That’s created by the laser cutting air molecules.”

He waved it around a bit and got used to the idea of it. “Well, the light is focused in such a way to end, rather than going on forever. I might have to take this with me and see how it works.”

It was a laser sword. His spoon wouldn’t work against it. But with his previous knowledge of sparring, he could defend himself with it. 

He looked back down at the boy. He knelt near him. There was nothing he could do to save his life, but maybe enough mental energy remained that he could learn something. He gently rested his fingertips at the boy’s contact points. He sensed something different about the boy. Telepathic abilities. And more. Much more. He pressed deeper and found the memories of his last moments. 

_Someone like him… a Jedi… someone he trusted. He had asked for help, but the older Jedi was the one to fight him. There were other children around. He tried to protect them, told them to hide. They scattered as he fought with the trained Jedi. “Master Skywalker”…_

The Doctor continued to watch until the boy died. He felt he owed the child that much. “Children always see more and know more than adults.”

And the child’s memories completed the story for the Doctor. He knew he had to find as many of the Younglings as he could and save them. Even if they couldn’t speak the same language, if they were all telepathic, they could communicate that way.

He stood and looked around. “Telepathic abilities. Advanced technology. Is it possible any survived? Wouldn’t it be easy to do a scan and find them?”

The Temple was quiet. Clearly everyone had assumed that anyone who was in the building was either dead or had left to re-join Empire forces. “Return to the TARDIS and attempt a scan of my own, or go with my instincts?”

This was a different universe, but these Jedi... Oh so similar to Time Lords. Maybe he could use that to his advantage. He needed to find a large space that was somewhat sheltered, or easy to defend. He returned to the TARDIS.

Once there, he uploaded all the information from the sonic and used the telepathic interface to give her the experiences of the Youngling. Once that was done, he stepped back. “You brought me here, so we need to save them. I need a place for us to wait for them. And together we can try to contact those here in the temple.”

The TARDIS chirped and whirled as she computed how to follow her Pilot’s request. She flashed the results on one of the monitors. The Doctor grinned when he saw it. “Okay, let’s go.”

He engaged the lever and the TARDIS moved to the appointed location.

The Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and looked around. “Veins and arteries of the building. Yes, someone trying to escape or hide would find a place like this.” 

He looked around, there was nowhere properly to sit, so he climbed and sat on the TARDIS roof. He made himself calm and still. While he wasn’t as strong of a telepath as most Time Lords, he had the ability to focus it. His weakness was his strength. Since he wasn’t as strong, he had learnt how to defend his mind from others. He was talking to children, he had to remember that. He started to send out a message: “I can save you.”

It was a simple message, but he hoped they believed him. Hopefully, if he felt different to them, the difference would be enough to let them know he meant no harm. He could tell the TARDIS was also sending out the message. Maybe if they couldn’t understand him, they would understand her. Now all he could do was wait.


End file.
